Welcome to the Soul Society
by Vheeri The Succubus
Summary: When a hollow was slain by a Soul Reaper, their spirits were sent to the Soul Society. Arrancar were no exception. The former killing machines had a life of their own, or death rather, and they were going to exist in it as best as they could. No Pairings.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I got a 10 page paper. You know the one from the beginning of the semester. Haven't even done a page and its due in less than 10 hours. I'm so terrible. Anyway, the poll for my upcoming story is still on my page. Please vote.

I got this idea while trying to type up more of Reaction Shot and listening to the Classic mix of Chemical Plant Zone from Sonic Generations. Straaange isn't it?

Anyway, this will feature a bit of a mix of the Japanese and English terms. So names will be last name first name, save for a few characters, and terms for places and such.

Welcome to the Soul Society

Chapter 1: Surprised to be Dead

When a hollow was slain by a Soul Reaper, their spirits were sent to the Soul Society.

Arrancar were no exception.

During the Winter War, many of these said Arrancar had been placed throughout the different areas and districts of Rukongai. None of the Soul Reapers knew about it, and most of them didn't even consider it. The former killing machines had a life of their own, or death rather, and each of them that were purified received a rather big shock when they found out.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Nnoitra awoke with a start. He wasn't sure what was going on, only that everything was absurdly quiet. He blinked a few times and looked around. He appeared to be in a shack of sorts. The roof to the place was made of wooden planks and covered by various worn down cloth. The walls were just about the same. The floor was nothing but dirt, and there was little to no furniture except for a table, and a pair of chairs.

From his look around, he discovered he was in a bed. Or rather, an excuse for one. It consisted of nothing more than poorly sewn together cloth with hay stuffed inside. He could tell it was hay due to small amounts leaking out.

Just where was he?

Nnoitra tried to remember what had happened, but nothing was really coming up. He knew his name, had a basic understanding of how to live, and for some reason a rather large dislike to women. It wasn't long before someone entered the shack and smiled his way.

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?" the person asked.

It was a woman, and once again Nnoitra found himself lost at why he didn't like her. He didn't even know her. She was a frail looking thing with dark red hair tied in a loose bun. In her hands were two medium sized looking barrels with long ropes on the ends. She wore a simple dark blue yukata with dark red diamond patterns all over. Her tired looking brown eyes stared expectantly at him for an answer.

"Fine. I'm fine." He answered. The hoarseness of his voice made him clear his throat.

"You must be thirsty. I managed to fetch some water. Can you walk?"

Nnoitra pulled away the worn sheets from his body and lifted himself to his feet, grumbling when he couldn't stand his full height due to the low ceiling. The woman's eyes widened at his extremely large height and stepped back.

"My, you're so tall! Oh how rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself yet. I am Maiko Izayoi." Izayoi giggled lightly. "Apparently to others I am like a Maiko at times, so I took that to be my last name. What are you called?"

"Nnoitra… Gilga."

"Mr. Gilga. That's an unusual name. Well then, have a seat please."

He did as asked and took a seat at the table. In front of him were two simple cups, and a large, empty bowl.

The woman lifted one of the barrels and poured water into the one closest to him and nodded. She was elegant in her movements despite the barrels large size. Whatever a Maiko was, it must have been something girly.

After a few gulps of the refreshing beverage, he turned to her.

"Just where are we?"

The woman took the seat across from him and folded her hands on the table.

"You must be new. We're in Zaraki, the 80th district of North Rukongai. You look like a strong man, though, I'd advise you to try and get away from here, and to a higher district."

Nnoitra raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Izayoi looked nervous to answer at first, but she continued regardless.

"As someone familiar with this area, I'll tell you now that you were lucky I found you. Rukongai is broken into 320 districts. Each branching from 1 to 80. The 80 are divided from North, South, West and East and extend from the Seretei, where the Soul Reapers and Nobility live. The 1st district is the most peaceful, while as the numbers get higher, the violence and poverty also increase."

"Eh? Well if it's so violent why are you still here?"

Once again, the woman didn't look as though she wanted to answer.

"I cannot leave. You see, if I do- well… I… Never mind. I'm sorry. B-but enough of that. I'm going to make everything depressing." She attempted to giggle as she did before but failed.

"So how the hell did I get here then?"

This seemed to bring a genuine smile to Izayoi's face.

"You're dead of course."

Well that was new. Nnoitra's thin eyes widened and he gave the woman a long, hard stare.

"What?"

"You're dead. This is where all souls start off basically after they die. Er, not all. Put it like this, they're more or less scattered. You just so happened to wind up here, in Zaraki."

It took a few minutes of silence for him to fully process everything, and in that time questioned began to form in the dozens. Just how _did_ he die seemed to be at the top of his list for some unknown reason. And he highly doubted Izayoi knew.

Nnoitra rolled his shoulders and stood once again. Other than a slight ache from his chest, he felt fine and decided sitting with some woman wasn't going to do him any good. After all, there was a better possibility of him finding answers outside of the shack.

"Thanks for the water, I'm leaving."

Izayoi stood and bowed as he made his way out of the small area.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gilga. Please be safe."

The outside area was a relief from the cramped space of the tiny home. It was approaching evening time and the sky was beginning to tint with red. Nnoitra stretched and began to walk around in order to fully take in his surroundings. The shack was like a fully furnished home based off of what met his eyes. The other poor excuses for buildings looked as though they were going to collapse of even the smallest breeze blew by. The place itself looked as though it was meant to be a residential area. But there weren't many 'homes'. Each faced across from another, and lined up with varied spaces in between. Izayoi's seemed to be in the middle. To his left, there were more sturdy looking buildings and he decided to head in that direction. Along the way, different men and women lay on the street, shivering and dirty. Some were huddled in groups, and others looked so skinny they were on the verge of death, again.

"Well well! Looks like our little Maiko got a customer!"

Nnoitra turned and watched as a fat, balding, as well as hairy man exited from an alleyway. He grinned, exposing brown teeth and a few that were missing.

"So, how was she?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The man tilted his head.

"What the hell do you mean what am I talkin' about? Maiko! That whore from down the street! I saw you walk out of there lookin' as refreshed as a damned Noble. Speakin' of Nobles, you sure got one helluva clean look there."

Clean? Nnoitra looked down at himself and was a bit surprised. He wore a yukata just like everyone else, only his was completely white except for the edges and sash. Not even a speck of dust soiled it.

"Hey! You listenin' to me?"

" I ain't do a thing so fuck off." Nnoitra barked back after being pulled from his thoughts.

"The hell did you just say to me boy!" The man pulled a knife from the front of his dirty yukata and advanced to Nnoitra. "I'll teach you a lesson!"

He wasn't sure where it came from, like most of the things Nnoitra was discovering about himself, but the instinct to dodge and break the man's jaw. Nnoitra's formerly pristine clothing now had a red splatter on the front. With a loud snap, the man fell to the dirt ground and screamed in agony. Some of the local residents gave a passing glance to the scene but ignored it as though it happened every day. Perhaps this was what Izayoi meant when she said this place was violent.

The man spouted curses of every kind while cradling his face. Maybe it was his pride or plain idiocy, but the man stood once more and tried to attack again. This time, Nnoitra broke the arm in which he held the knife and watched as he rolled on the ground, howling in pain.

Nobody seemed to care about him, so Nnoitra shrugged it off and continued on his way. Though, as odd as it was, it didn't seem to disturb him much. It was as though violence was second nature, and inflicting pain gave him a bit of joy. Whatever the cause may be, he did his best to ignore it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Only an hour had passed before Nnoitra found himself facing trouble once again. It was much darker than before, and more people were appearing on the streets. Thinking it was best to find a place to stay for the night, he wandered into an area with red lights. His search for shelter was disrupted when a group of what Nnoitra could only place as thugs surrounded him.

"Them clothes on ya back look pretty damn nice. And that eye patch too. How about you give it to us. The blood ain't no problem, but you are." The leader said.

Eye patch? He didn't even realize he was wearing one. Still, that wasn't important at the moment.

They were all a skinny bunch, and none even came close to Nnoitra's height. Each brandished a sword and a dirty grin. It wasn't as though the prospect of a fight bothered him, but it was beginning to become a bit of an annoyance seeing as how weak they all seemed. It was like being pestered by small children.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told the last guy who messed with me. Fuck off." Nnoitra rolled his visible eye causing the men to instantly grow hostile.

"Fine then! C'mon boys, let's fuck this punk up!" the leader yelled.

The first to fall just so happened to be the smallest. He didn't even look like a grown man, but he was still given a brutal fist to the face, instantly knocking him out. The second fell after Nnoitra twisted his neck, and the third cried out after Nnoitra broke both of his arms and shattered a rib with a well placed kick. The leader looked angry and afraid after watching his few followers fall.

"You gonna come on?" Nnoitra prompted.

Decision made, the leader yelled as he lunged to his opponent, only to be grabbed by the front of his robes and have his sword taken right from his hands. Nnoitra lifted him off the ground and to his eye level.

"Listen. I'm getting a bit tired of you damn morons trying to attack me today. I just want a place to sleep, and some directions to get out of this trash heap. Now are you gonna tell me anything? Or am I going to have to choke a bitch?"

"I-I'll tell you! Please don't kill me!" he begged.

Nnoitra didn't let go, and glared at the man further.

"Talk."

"D-down that street! T-to the left! There's a path that leads to the 79th district. There aren't any inns here! S-so only there aren't any inns here! I swear!"

After a full moment, Nnoitra let go.

"I'm keeping this sword. Give me the sheath."

The leader scrambled to remove the sheath from his sash and shakily gave it to Nnoitra. The dark haired man nodded and placed it in his own before turning and continuing on his way.

"W-wait! Please!"

Nnoitra irritably turned back to the leader while scowling.

"What?" he called back.

"Could you- could you please tell me your name?"

"Nnoitra. Nnoitra Gilga."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

That was chapter 1. I have no idea when I'll be updating this again since it was one of my late night random thoughts. Tell me what you think. I'll only be adding in the Espada and possibly Arrancar who were killed by the Gotei 13. So yeah, sorry Ulquiorra fans. Same goes for Grimmjow, who most likely isn't dead since his death wasn't on screen and he was cut down by Nnoitra himself. I won't be including some others, like Szayel, since he and Aaroniero were seen in hell. (It was a promo for Hell Chapter)

Please review if you want to see this continued. Now I gotta do that paper.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Holy… oh my frickin' gosh guys. 10 page paper right? Stayed up till like 4 and managed 7, including the title page, abstract, and bib. It's like jumping several stories in the air _without _Nikes! And I have class in like 10 min. (And I'll be actually writing the chapter once I get out of class) It just took me a whole minute to properly type. com and I also have a test in said class… the same I was writing the paper for. (disregard this since I wrote it in the library at school)

Poll is still on my page, and so far Aizen is winning. Grimmjow following close behind. And nobody likes Rangiku XD

Also, please correct me if I'm wrong on anything. I didn't know the official term for the clothes souls wear and Rukgongai, so I went with Yukata. I didn't want to use Kimono because the term is too broad and generally associated with more formal clothing like furisode and other fancy stuffs.

Not sure if I should change the rating here. I mean, Bleach itself is pretty much rated T, and there's nudity in it. So yea… don't worry it ain't any lemons.

Welcome to the Soul Society

Chapter 2: And so it begins (re-uploaded due to some errors)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was nearly pitch black out, the only light coming from the thankfully full moon. Nnoitra walked through what was looking to be a less populated area just as his 'guide' instructed. So far no other men had bothered to challenge him, and Nnoitra was fine with just that.

It wasn't long until he came to the edge of a dark forest. There where little trees at first, but the extended into a much thicker area. There was also a path for travelers either smart enough to leave the place, or dumb enough to go in. Nnoitra preferred to think of himself as the former seeing as how he would never return to Zaraki. Living in dirt and surrounded by morons wasn't exactly a comforting thought.

Resolve made, he continued down the path.

The moon continued to make its way across the sky slowly as the night progressed, and all was quiet within the dark forest. Until something snapped in the distance. Nnoitra froze and strained his ears trying to pinpoint the cause. It was probably a small animal, or just nature itself breaking down, but his instincts doubted that.

Whatever made the noise was silent and Nnoitra chose to continue onwards. His footsteps were light on the dirt and he kept his ears open. Actually looking around would help seeing as how his vision was limited in the darkness of the forest.

Only a short moment passed before he suddenly heard the distinct singing of a blade coming his direction. Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped to the side and turned, narrowly missing the sword that would have removed his head.

"Damn. Pretty fast one. You're gonna be harder to kill than I thought."

From the moon's light, he could make out the figure of what he thought was a man. But its face was rather feminine. The yukata it wore didn't show off any of his or her chest, and its hair was cropped.

"And just why do you want to kill me?" Nnoitra asked while unsheathing his newfound weapon.

"Why not? I like killing dumb ass travelers like yourself. Gives me a good thrill."

Its voice wasn't helping either. It was deep like a man's, but it just wasn't gruff enough. Man or woman, Nnoitra didn't really care. If it attacked, he would fight it. The strange person attacked again, and Nnoitra effortlessly blocked. Wherever these skills were coming from, they were quite handy.

Also, whoever this person was, they were pretty good with a blade. Every time Nnoitra retaliated, his opponent managed to block. He received a few close calls, as did his opponent. Neither had the upper hand and it was beginning to irritate the both of them.

The stranger growled in frustration while delivering a powerful swing aimed to Nnoitra's midsection. As the previous times, Nnoitra blocked. However, his opponent's attack provided an opening to which he took full advantage of.

He kicked the stranger in the side, breaking a rib. His opponent cried out and fell to the ground, clutching the wounded area. Nnoitra wasted no time and placed his sword at the other's neck.

"S-shit. You win; looks like you're gonna have to kill me." It smiled from the ground.

Nnoitra tilted his head to the side and slid his sword down to the split at the bottom of the dark yukata the other wore. With a flick of his wrist, the cloth flew to the side and exposed the slightly reddened bandages that covered, what he could clearly see was female, her bottom like underwear.

The woman blushed and hurriedly scrambled back.

"No. Kill me. Please, don't do this, especially not now!" she begged. Her voice began to sound more like her genders.

After sheathing his sword, Nnoitra took a step back.

"I ain't gonna rape you. I just wanted to see if you were a man or a woman."

Relief seemed to spread on her features as she sighed. That relief disappeared when she looked Nnoitra in the eye, her deeper voice returning.

"Still, what's taking you so long? Kill me already!"

"Why?"

"Why?" she repeated, obviously confused. "Why not? I tried to kill you, and I lost. So just kill me and get it over with!"

Something about what she said brought a sense of Déjà vu to Nnoitra's mind. However, he couldn't recall a single moment of it happening. The sensation itself was disturbing, and a sudden anger built up within him. The woman watched as he scowled and prepared herself for whatever he would inflict upon her.

Nnoitra couldn't really decide what to do. Part of him wanted to kill her; the other wanted to die himself. It was extremely confusing for his still new mind to take it. Then another thought kicked in. Keep her. Of all the thoughts ravaging through his mind, that one struck him as most odd. Why would he keep her?

"You're coming with me."

Like the previous questions, the reason why he said that was left unanswered. The woman blinked as though processing what he just said.

"What, did you just say?"

"Dammit do I have to keep repeating myself to everyone here? I said you're coming with me. Now get up, I'm sure you can walk."

The woman didn't budge and continued to stare at Nnoitra.

"Don't joke with me. I ain't gonna kill myself, so you're gonna do it!"

"No I am not. Get your ass up right now and come with me. I beat you, and I can do it again."

The woman looked as though she was going to speak again but Nnoitra cut her off.

"Tell you what. Since your so bent on dying by my hand, if you follow me, I'll kill you eventually. Nobody else will be able to, but me. Got it? Now get up."

With that insane logic in mind, the woman complied. She winced and struggled as she got to her feet, but manages shakily nevertheless.

"I'm Niji Mariko." She said quietly.

"Nnoitra Gilga… Now that I think about it, why are you out here in the forest? You got a place around here?"

Mariko nodded and pointed in a direction off their current path.

"I live here, in the forest."

"We're going to your place then. I need a place to sleep for the night. Sun rises, we leave."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mariko's home was no better than those in the streets of Zaraki. It was a simple tent made from the skins of animals and tree branches. She had little possessions. A welting stone, a powder ball and other things to keep her sword in good condition. She also seemed to have a collection of random belongings from what Nnoitra could only guess came from the travelers she attacked. To the side of the tent, she arranged several blankets and more animal skins to make a bed of sorts. The only light came from a lantern that hung from the top of the tent.

It was simple, but she seemed to manage well.

Nnoitra took a blanket from her bed and balled it up to make a pillow. Mariko looked as though she wanted to protest, but she decided not to. All that mattered was treating her broken rib while her new leader rested. She refused to think of him as a master or anything; she had more pride than that.

When she was sure the other man was asleep, she placed a hand over her rib and let the familiar green glow of kido slowly mend her wounds. Nearly half an hour passed before she became exhausted and stopped. The rib was no longer broken, but the injury still wasn't fully healed. But it would do.

For now, she would rest until morning.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, sending beams of light into the tent. Nnoitra awoke slowly and sat up. His new servant of sorts was still asleep, though not a peaceful one. With the morning light, he could see her features in full.

Her hair was just as he remembered it, only black. He could also see bandages covering her chest, most likely to hide her breasts. He decided not to wait to wake her up at the moment; he had to take a leak.

As he exited the tent, Nnoitra stretched his long limbs and left. Mariko heard the rustling of her tent and her eyes immediately snapped open. Seeing the back of Nnoitra as a reminder of the previous night and she wasn't sure if she should be relieved or even more tense.

Her ribs still ached and she frowned. It wasn't as bad as last night, but she'd still be able to travel. It would take awhile until she could use her healing Kido again. As she waited for Nnoitra to return, she briefly scanned her home.

She didn't have much, but she decided to take the satchel she snagged off a traveler and pack only the things she needed. Her sword powder and oils, a few bare essentials that would hopefully prevent her a second death, and money for food. She wasn't sure when she would get hungry again, but it would probably be soon.

Just as she placed the last of what she needed into the bag, Nnoitra entered and waved his hand as though beckoning her forward.

He looked her directly in the eye and saw that her eyes were quite feminine, and dark brown.

"Come on." Nnoitra said before leaving out again. Without a last glance to her home, she followed.

It wasn't as though leaving really bothered her. Living in the outskirts of Zaraki taught her to never look back and if need be, abandon everything. As long as she could fight, she was alright. Though at the moment she wasn't really in any condition to fight.

Time passed at a normal pace as the two walked down the path to the 79th district. Neither of them spoke. It was a strangely comfortable silence that neither wanted to break. That was, until the air became more humid and Nnoitra began to sweat.

"Just what the hell's going on here? Why's it so hot all of a sudden?" he asked over his shoulder.

Mariko pointed to the left.

"There's a hot spring a not too far from this path."

Nnoitra looked down on her and scowled. "You should go take a bath then. All that bleeding is starting to smell. I ain't got no problem with blood, but yours just don't smell right."

A furious blush erupted on Mariko's face. It wasn't her fault her body still kept its human tendencies after death! But she still felt she should change bandages regardless. If it's one thing living in the 80th did, it taught a person to live in dirt. Baths were almost nonexistent, and only a few really knew where the hot spring was. But by the time they got back, they'd already be dirty again.

"You said it was this way? Come on." Nnoitra commanded as he began to walk in the direction he believed to be right. He listened as Mariko followed right behind. Another thing he didn't know he knew was just _why_ she was bleeding. But he still didn't fully understand it.

It happened to women for a few days then it was over for awhile. He also knew women got extremely bitchy when it happened. That was all he knew, and he was glad that was all. Anymore and he'd probably get sick just thinking about the other gender. Still, his random distaste for them nagged at him from the back of his head. As much as he tried to suppress it, it stayed.

Caught up in his thoughts, he almost barely noticed the pool of steaming water in the short distance. It wasn't extremely large, but a reasonable size. There was also a series of large rocks around and nearby, so he took a seat on one.

"Bathe. Now." He said while digging a finger into his ear.

Mariko had no problem getting undressed in front of others, however; there were times when she just didn't think she should be seen.

"While you watch?"

"Look I ain't got any interest in you. At all. And I ain't turning around like you're some princess or something. Now hurry the hell up. You got 30 minutes."

Grumbling, Mariko complied.

While his follower did as she was told, Nnoitra wandered into his own thoughts. He hoped that during his sleep he would be able to dream up something from his past, but nothing had shown up. Izayoi mentioned him not remembering anything, so she must have knew something about hers.

Nnoitra couldn't help but to want to know where he came from. He knew how to fight, pretty well he had to admit, and based off of his opponents so far, his level of skill wasn't common. Save for the woman. Mariko had something about her that was rather familiar, and he couldn't help but to be drawn to it, he wanted it as well.

He watched as she used a strip of bandages as a washcloth. Maybe she came from a place like his when she was alive. She was pretty much on the same level as he when it came to swordplay. And it was obvious she wasn't like most women. What could be the point of her acting as a man? He'd just ask later, the 30 minutes was nearly up and he wanted to get moving. Maybe the 79th district would have something for him to eat. For some reason he was beginning to grow hungry and there hadn't been any wildlife so far.

"Times up. Get dressed." Nnoitra said as he removed himself from the rock. His follower looks as though she wanted to rip his throat out but she remained quiet and got out.

It wouldn't surprise him if she randomly attacked him. The thought made him smirk. At least now he had someone to fight with that he knew would keep him on his toes.

Instead of watching as she dressed, Nnoitra turned and took in the landscape. The trees weren't exactly lush, but they still had life in them. It seemed as though the poverty of Zaraki was even wearing nature down. There were no birds, and the annoying chirp of the forest insects was kept at a low. The everlasting quiet was unnerving in itself, but he could deal with it. It had an odd charm to it, and it was much better than listen to some woman's chatter.

Though her short black hair was still wet, and her slightly dirty clothes seemed a bit damp, Mariko looked refreshed and ready continue.

Together, they continued on to wherever Nnoitra decided to go.

_._._._._._._._._

A/N: Ok Done! I was hoping to make this at least 7-9 pages but... meh. I want to know what you guys think before I continue. Mainly if anyone has any ideas.

I'm still unsure what to do with my OCs.

In this story, I doubt any of them will live that long, and Mariko was sort of a random idea. Originally I wanted her to be a boy, but I noticed the severe lack of butch kinda women in any fandom ever. The only thing really girly I made for her was her last name (Rainbow). I also had the idea of Nnoitra meeting Menoly, but she died by a Cero… again. So yeah. Tell me what you think.

I also made a mistake about Mariko's appearance since I hadn't decided what she would look like. I made a lot of mistakes actually. So I edited and re-uploaded. the next chapter wont be up for a moment, be sure to check my updates for more info.


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